Changes in forest cover and ecosystem services in Davos under climate change.

摘要: The effects of climate change on forests of Davos were examined with field experiments near treeline, analyses of avalanche-forest interactions and with spatially explicit models for the valuation of ecosystem services. Experimental trees at the Stillberg research site showed species-specific responses to elevated CO2 and soil warming. Growth and mortality of the trees planted in the year 1975 were strongly driven by the duration of snow cover and microtopography. Together with other field studies in the region this suggests that during the next decades the treeline will rise only slowly and mainly on favorable microsites. Avalanche protection will also in future be the most important forest service in Davos, although critical weather and snow conditions for forest avalanches show a decreasing trend over the last 40 years. The density of forest structures is likely to further increase with potential positive effects on …